Cocaine and Heroin Trafficker Sentenced to Over 14 Years in Prison

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 19, 2013

RICHMOND, Va. – Carlos Edward Gomez, 37, of Le Marque, Texas, was sentenced today to 178months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride and one kilogram of heroin.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Ava A. Cooper-Davis, Special Agent in Charge, of the Washington Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Gomez pleaded guilty to the charge on January 11, 2013.

According to court documents, from June 2011, through August 22, 2012, Gomez and others supplied over 15 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride and over 10 kilograms of heroin from Galveston, Texas, to drug traffickers in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere for redistribution. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized over four kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride, over six kilograms of heroin, over four pounds of marijuana, over $305,000 in drug proceeds, firearms, and numerous vehicles used to transport illegal narcotics and proceeds from drug sales.

Gomez, who the Court found today to be an organizer and supervisor in this drug operation, was the last of the coconspirators to be sentenced. The others included:

Miguel Alejandro Gomez, 38, of Mexico, sentenced to 144 months on April 12, 2013;
Ralph Garcia, 48, of Galveston, Texas, sentenced to 72 months on March 26, 2013;
Robert Reyes, 32, of Galveston, Texas, sentenced to 156 months on August 28, 2012;
Wilfred Blair, 38, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, sentenced to 276 months on September 14, 2012; and
Duane Brooks Jefferson, 39, of Richmond, Virginia, sentenced to 210 months on November 5, 2012.

This case was investigated by the DEA Offices in Richmond, Virginia, and Galveston, Texas, and the Richmond Police Department, with the expert assistance of the Virginia State Police Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Interdiction Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Olivia L. Norman prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.